Railway-tie.



W. B. & s. e. THOMSON.

RAILWAY TIE.'

PPLITI FILED JUNE 25, 1907. 1 ,O1 8, 139, Patented Feb. '20, 1912.

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W. P. & S. G. THOMSON.

RAILWAY TIE. Y

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25; 1907.

1,018,139. Patented Feb.20,1912. v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM P. THOMSON AND SAMUEL Gr. THOMSON, 0F PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1912.

Application led June 25, 1907. Serial No. 380,652.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM P. THOM- soN and SAMUEL G. THOMSON,residents of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented an Improvement in Railway-Ties, of which the following isa specification.

It is one of the objects of this invention to prevent the endwisemovement or shift-- ing of the tie in its road-bed and the resultingdisplacement of the rails. This object we accomplish by making the tieof an irregular outline to a vertical plane transversely to the rails.This irregularity in the outline of the tie causes it to become firmlyiiXed in the ballast. or in the material of which the bed is composed,and the tendency to endwise movement in either direction is resisted. Inthe preferred form of our invention, for accomplishing this object, weemploy a metallic member extending from rail to rail and bent into anirregular form to a vertical plane transversely to the rails. Theseirregularities are the means for holding it against endwise movement inthe road-bed or ballast.

Our invention is also particularly adapted to that class of t-ies inwhich one or more metallic members are combined with a wooden block ormember, which acts as a fastening means or as an elastic rail bearing.In this class: of ties it is necessary that the wooden block or membershall be held againstilongitudinal displacement with reference to themetallic member or members to which it is secured, and theirregularities in the outline of the metallic member or members areutilized for this purpose, and may be employed to hold the wooden memberor spiking blocks against movement in either or both directions, inaddition to the usual rivets or means by which the wooden block ormember is secured. In the preferred forms of our tie we employ twometallic members secured together with the wooden blocks or membersbetween them and the adjacent faces of the metallic members bent toconverge at one or both ends of the Wooden blocks so as to form narrowedspaces to confine the blocks.

In the drawings: Figure l is a side elevation of one form of a railwaytie embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same omittingthe rails; Figs. 3, l, 5, G, 7, 8 and 9 are plan views illustratingother forms employing two metallic members; Figs. 10 and l1. are similarviews showing forms using a single metallic member; Figs. l2, 13 and l5are plan views illustrating further modilications; and Fig. 14 is atransverse section on t-he line A-A of Fig. 3.

a a are the metallic members; Z9 the wooden lportions or blocks; and cthe rails.

In the forms shown in Figs. l to 9 the tie is composed of two metallicmembers a a between which'the wooden blocks b are se.- cured, while inthe forms shown in Figs. l0 and 11 but a single metallic member a isemployed with the wooden blocks placed both on one side, as in the formshown in Fig. 10, or on opposite sides of the two ends, as in the formshown in Fig l1. The metal members a a are of a length suiiicient t-oextend under both rails and may be of any suitable cross section, but weprefer to employ flanged structural irons having a vertical web to whichthe wooden members are secured by bolts or rivets c3, or by other means,such as the clamps p. In any oase one or both of these metallic membersis bent, preferably at the rail bearings partly for the purpose ofholding the wooden blocks or members, which are secured to them, againstlongitudinal movement, and partly to vary the width of the tie so thatthe tie itself will be more rmly held in the road-bed or ballast againstlongitudinal movement.

In those forms shown in Figs. l to 8 and Fig. l2 the two metallicmembers a a converge to-ward one another at the ends or center so as toform narrowed spaces for retaining the. block 5 in place and also tovary the width of the tie. In the form shown in Figs. l and 2, the twomembers a and a are parallel to one another at the center and the outerends converge toward one another to form a narrowed space at the outerends adjacent to the rail bearings; the blocks b o located at the railbearings extend into these narrowed spaces and are thus held againstoutward movement. In this construction, we have shown metal cleats a5secured to the vertical webs of the members a a and extending outwardlyover the inner ends of the blocks to resist inward movement also, butthese cleats may be omitted, or they may obviously be in the form oftongues cut and bent from the flanges; or a single continuous block maybe used extending from rail bearing to rail bearing. In thisconstruction, the two metallic members are riveted together to form theunitary tie by the rivets c3 which secure the blocks or members betweenthem.

In the forms shown in Figs. 3, 4t and 12, the members a a converge bothat the outer ends and at the center.

In the form shown in Fig. 5 the outer ends of the members a a' areparallel and the members converge at the center where they may beriveted together. In this case, the narrowed space b-etween the verticalflanges acts to resist inward movement of the blocks.`

In the forms shown in Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 the two members ct aare riveted together'. In Figs. 3 and 14, however, we have shown aconstruction in which the members a a are secured together by clamps p pwhich engage the edges of the members a a. These clamps are driven homeon the inclined edges of the members a a and may be secured when intightened positions to the blocks Z9 by spikes p2 or other fastenings.r1`his construction enables the riveting of the members to be dispensedwith and greatly cheapens the construction.. While we have shown suchclamps at both the top and bottom we do not mean to limit ourselves tothe use of both clamps or to the particular form of the clamp shown.

The form shown in Fig. 6 is substantially the same as that shown inFigs. 3 and l eX- cept that the converging portions of the members a aare curved instead of straight.

In the form shown in Fig. 7 the widest part of the tie is at the centerand the members e a converge toward one another from that point; in thiscase, the cleats a for the inner ends of the blocks b h may be used, asin the form shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or the block may be made in onecontinuous piece.

In the form shown in Fig. 8, the nar rowest part of the tie is at thecenter and the members a a spread apart from one another from thatpoint; in this case the cleats a5 may be used at the outer ends of theblocks.

In the form shown in Fig. 9 one of t-he members (a) is straight and theother member (a) is bent as in the form shown in Fig. 3.

In the forms shown in Figs. 1() and 11, a single metallic member a isused, but such member is bent in the manner shown to retain the blockagainst longitudinal movement and also to present the irregular outlinein the length of the tie. In Fig. 10 the blocks are shown secured toeach end on the same side of the member a, while in Fig. 11 they areshown on opposite sides. In Fig. 10 clamps p3 generally similar to theclamps p p are used for securing the block b to the member a.

In Figs. 19. and 13 the clamps p4 are in the form of rail bearing platesbut act in the same manner as the clamps j) p for securing the members au while having the additional function of acting as. rail bea-rings.They may be secured to the blocks b either by the rail spikes c or byindependent fastenings p2, and obviously the conformation of the upperor lower surfaces of these plates may be varied at will and still comewithin the scope of this invention. It will be apparent that thisconstruction, when these rail bearing plates are used, may be somodified as to greatly simplify the re-gaging of the track rails, sincethe plate, the block b and the tie members may be ad justed at will intonew relationships to suit the changed position of the rail. Theseadjustments are almost limitless in variety by reason of the claspingfunction of the plate and the spreading function of the block when givena wedging shape.

In Fig. 13 the inner faces of the members a c are parallel and the outerfaces at the rail bearings are converging. In this case also Awe haveshown the rail bearing clamping plates 294.

In Fig. 15 the tie is of the shape of an elongated V so as to presentthe converging faces. The block at one end is secured between the outerconverging ends and at the other end blocks 6 are secured on each side.

These di fl'erent forms have been shown to illustrate the modificationsof which our in vention is susceptible, and it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that many other forms may be used without departingfrom the essential idea of the irregularity in the length of the tie forholding the blocks against longitudinal movement in either or bothdirections, and preventing the endwise movement of the tie as anentirety. The particular form which should be used in any case willdepend on the nature of the roadbed, the character of the traffic andother engineering conditions.

The rails c c are spiked to the wooden member or blocks b by spikesc orare fastened in any `suitable manner; if an all wooden bearing isdesired it may be ob-, tained by extending the surface of the woodenmember or members above the tops of the metallic member or members. Inthose cases where an elastic rail bearing is not required and spikingblocks or members are not necessary the wooden member or members may beomitted..

In those forms in which two metallic members a a are used there is anopen space between the members, which the ballast or material of theroad-bed will enter thus serving to hold the tie more effectively inplace.

When we speak of the blocks or members ZJ as wooden blocks or members,it is to be understood that we mean to include a block or membercomposed of ot-her suitable non-metallic material or composition whichmay be used as a spiking member or as anelastic rail bearing.

What we claim as new is as follows:

1. A railway tie consisting of a metallic member extending from rail torail bent into an irregular form in a vertical plane transversely to therails at a point between the end of the tie and the inner edge of theadjacent rail foot, said member having an upright web and alongitudinally extending flange projecting from its side, and a woodenmember having its lower surface exposed and free to be engaged by theballast of the road-bed, said metallic member adjacent to said bentportion being laterally secured to said wooden member and said woodenmember being retained against longitudinal movement by said bent portionof the metallic member.

2. A railway tie having two metallic members secured together and havingadjacent faces which are at varying distances apart and portions ofwhich faces lie between the end of tlie tie and the inner edge of theadjacent rail foot, each of said members having an upright web and alongitudinally extending flange projecting from its side, and a woodenspiking member between said metallic members and held againstlongitudinal movement by the varying proximity of the adjacent faces ofsaid metallic members.

3. A railway tie having two metallic members secured together and havingadjacent faces converging toward one another between an end of the tieand the inner edge of the adjacent rail foot, each of said membershaving an upright web and a longitudinally extending flange projectingfrom its side, and a wooden spiking member between converging portionsof said adjacent faces of the metallic members.

4. A railway tie having the outer portions with laterally extendingflanges, said outer portions being secured together and presenting anirregular outline on either side of the tie in a vert-ical planetransversely to the rails and between the end of the tie and the inneredge of the adjacent rail foot, and wooden spiking members securedbetween the outer members at the rail bearings, said outer portions andtheir securing means bounding space between the rail bearings which isopen at the top and bottom of the tie.

5. A railway tie having outer members with laterally extending flanges,a portion of the upright web of each of said members being arranged atan angle one to the other with spiking blocks intervening between saidportions. Y

6. A railway tie having outer members with laterally extending flanges,a portion of an outer member being bent so that the outer members lie atan angle one to the other beneath the rail with intervening spikingblocks between said outer members.

7. A railway tie consisting of two side members having uprightconverging faces and laterally extending flanges, intervening spacingmembers, and means clamping said members together, the convergence ofthe faces of the side members aifording a resistance to longitudinalshift-ing of said spacing members at a point betweenV the end of the tieand the inner edge of the adjacent rail foot.

8. A railway tie having converging side 85 members, an interveningspacing member and a rail bearing plate clamping said parts together atconverging portions of said side members.

9. A railway tie having side portions converging beneath a rail, andmeans for clamping said side portions together.

10. A railway tie having side members having portions which convergebeneath a rail, and rail bearing plates clamping said side memberstogether.

11. A railway tie embracing a metallic member and a spiking block havingupright longitudinally converging faces, and means to clamp said partstogether.

12. A railway tie consisting of outer members having irregular outlinesin vertical planes transversely to the rails, intervening members,clamps litt-ing converging parts of the outer members, and means forfastening said clamps in tightened position.

13. A railway tie consisting of outer members having irregular outlinesin vertical planes transversely to the rails, intervening members,clamps tting converging parts of the outer members, and means securingsaid clamps to the intervening members in tightened position on theouter members.

14. A railway tie having converging side portions, clamps fitting saidconverging parts, and means for fastening said clamps in tightenedposition.

15. A railway tie comprising two flangedbase sections, the centers ofsaid sections contacting with each other, both sections bent to formdivergent walls and again bent to form substantially parallel spacedterminals.

16. A railway tie comprising two flangedbase sections, the midlengt-hsof said flanges 125 being contiguous, both sections bent to formdivergent walls and again bent to form substantially parallel spacedterminals. j

17. A railway tie comprising two flangedbase sections, the midlengths ofsaid flanges -form substantially parallel spaced terminals,

being Contiguous, both sections bent to form dwergent Walls and agalnbent to block seated Within said terminals, and lneans for securing thetie sections together.

In testimony of which invention We have hereunto set our hands.

W. P. THOMSON. Sw G. THOMSON.

and means for securing sacl sections t0- gether.

18. A `railway tie comprising two flangedbase sections, the micllengthsof sad'fflanges being contiguous, both sections bent to form Vitnesses:dlvergent Walls and agaln bent to form sub- ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER,stantia-lly parallel spaced terlnlnals, a Wood R. M. KELLY.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for Washington, D. C.

